THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO MY TWIN BROTHER, BILL DYKES (1943-1995). WE WERE NOT ONLY BROTHERS BUT PARTNERS IN BUSINESS AND BEST FRIENDS!AND TO ALL THE "BUTCHERS" THAT HAVE PASSED ON TO THE BIG LOT IN THE SKY!

WHEN Simon Tait ran away to join the circus­, he expected it to be a short stop on the way to an acting career.

But the then 21-year-old university drama student soon discovered life under the big top was his true calling.

“We’d been doing a lot of mime in the course and I saw an American clown at a circus incorporating mime into his act,” Tait explains.

“I thought what a wonderful way to increase my acting ability and experience a bit of life and travel before embarking on a fully-fledged acting career.

“But I just fell in love with the circus.”

When the circus comes to town.

Picture: Keryn Stevens. Source: News Limited

TELL US BELOW: What is the best circus act you’ve ever seen?

Now 53, Tait is a circus veteran and will be running proceedings for Silvers Circus throughout its month-long Bonython Park season.

The master of grand illusions will command the ring, overseeing highwire acts, motorbike stuntmen, acrobats and an Argentinian hula hoop artist who spins up to 100 hoops at once.

Tait says Silvers stands out from other circuses because it is sophisticated and designed to impress adults as well as children.

“I find it a bit embarrassing to say I’m working and that it’s a job,” he says.

“I’m just having fun play acting and having the time of my life. Every night I let that inner child escape and run riot and I try and inspire the inner child within every member of the audience to come out.”

Tait left the circus briefly but running a small business did not compare with working in the circus.

“I ran away for a couple­ of years and tried my hand at running a takeaway shop,” Tait says.

“If anyone is interested in that – don’t do it.”

He says being part of a close-knit circus family, living in a mobile home and constantly discovering­ new places makes for an interesting­ life.